Philips Resperatronics

Hi everyone, Im having a hard time. The Philips site offers no support for machine issues. My pump sounds like it has a hard time getting started, it whirs up, stops, whirs up, stops and after three times i get a service required and it beeps non stop. I unplug it, wait a few seconds and try again. Sometimes it gets it right away and others it takes a few time to go. I think there is also a issue with back pressure. If I cough or laugh with it on and now if i turn over and let out a puff of air it goes to "service required". I start the unplug process again and again. Where I live there is a provincial program for sleep apnea so the places that sell machines and/or supplies dont want to help me without being on the government program and I have had a hard time getting on the program. I have a hell of a time sleeping without it now (which is what i feared would happen before I got diagnosised) and i wake up with a start when I stop breathing. Anyone have any idea what the problem is or where I can find some do it your self info to attempt to find the problem and fix it? I hate the idea of sending it out because using it in the conditon it is is better than nothing to me. It's a philips resperatronic and i didnt get the humidifier part. Any help would be appreciated as I know no one else with this machine. Thanks

Where did you buy it? Most of these machines have a 3 year warranty on them but they need to be brought back where you bought it to get serviced. Most manufacturers don't deal with customers.

The warranty time frame for Respironics machines is 2 years. How long have you had this machine and what model is it?
What is the manufacture date of your machine? It's on a little sticker on the bottom of the blower unit...an 8 digit number in year/month/day code. Example 20140101 would be Jan 1, 2014.
Sounds like you are in Canada...they do things differently up there but if the machine is less than 2 years old it should be under warranty and anyone who sells that brand should be willing to act as a go between for the warrant work. In other words send it to Respironics for you.

It does sound like it is in need of repairs and these machines aren't something that are easy for the average consumer to work on. There's no way for us to know what be wrong with it. Maybe a sensor...maybe the whole circuit board.

If the machine is out of warranty...depending on which model you have...often it costs more to repair than they are worth.
Maybe you need to look at local Craigslist (or similar in Canada) for a low cost replacement machine for the day when yours dies and can't be resurrected.

I used to have an older Philips Remstar unit (ca. 2001) that I took on out of town trips. It used to do the same thing.

Try turning the unit upside down or put it on its side. With my ancient unit, some of the screws holding the motor in place loosened, causing the impeller to touch the housing. Putting the unit on its side lessened the effect and gave the motor enough clearance to turn. I eventually opened it up and retightened the screws which made the issue go a away for a few years but the problem would occasionally resurface and I would have to retighten things. If you aren't handy, I would not suggest opening it up and fixing it. For the mechanically inclined, there was not much to the unit- a few foam baffles, a control board and a motor.

Good luck! Sounds like you may be ready for an "upgrade."

Pugsy wrote:The warranty time frame for Respironics machines is 2 years. How long have you had this machine and what model is it?
What is the manufacture date of your machine? It's on a little sticker on the bottom of the blower unit...an 8 digit number in year/month/day code. Example 20140101 would be Jan 1, 2014.

My old Respironics autoSV was 1 year and 10 months old and had a serious problem. Rrespironics replaced it with no complaints... I got a new one shipped to me in less than a week. It's a great company for warranty service IMO.

My old M series did some stunts similar to your machine. Of course it was out of warranty when it began its tricks. The beeping sounds just like mine. My problems mostly stemmed from electrical wiring that I basically kept using electricians tape to rewire the burned ends. It was dangerous & don't recommend doing what I did. I was in a position that I didn't have the money for a new machine, insurance wouldn't cover a new one yet & I didn't know about this forum yet.

I would find a DME willing to help or try to buy a used machine from Craigslist to get by on.